The 2013 Diary of a Semi-LAG Tilt Monkey

A couple of days with Jared's first book has calmed me down enough to play a few sessions over the past couple of nights. One issue that I have at 50nl is that the constant 3betting causes a lot of pressure to build (Carroters refers to this as "The Spew Gauge" on Grinder School) and I had no idea why this tilted me until Jared nailed it in practically one sentence, with something along the lines of "constant aggression is only tilting you because you don't yet have the skill set to counter it".

I'm up a couple of bb/100 the past two nights but I've still been making 1-2 huge mistakes per session in big pots where I'm overplaying in bad spots and it's killing my win rate (villains are all standard TAG-types):

Hand 1

One where I didn't go with the logical deductions I made (I really have no discipline). I doubt villain bets this river card (especially this big) with two pair and maybe not sets or straights, there aren't many flushes in his range at all and there is no way he calls a raise or jam with anything I beat....ALL IN!!:

UTG ($78.58)
MP ($109.63)
CO ($50)
Hero (Button) ($79.03)
SB ($51.82)
BB ($50)

Preflop: Hero is Button with Khttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif, Jhttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif
UTG raises to $1.50, 2 folds, Hero calls $1.50, 2 folds

Flop: ($3.75) 8http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif, 10http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif, Khttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/heart.gif (2 players)
UTG bets $2.50, Hero calls $2.50

Turn: ($8.75) Ahttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...ilies/club.gif (2 players)
UTG bets $6.50, Hero calls $6.50

River: ($21.75) 9http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif (2 players)
UTG bets $17.50, Hero raises to $68.53 (All-In), UTG calls $50.58 (All-In)

Total pot: $157.91 | Rake: $2.50

Results below:

Spoiler: Show

Hero had Khttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif, Jhttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif (flush, King high).
UTG had Ahttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif, 3http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif (flush, Ace high).
Outcome: UTG won $155.41

Hand 2

Not sure about this hand. I think villain makes a pretty big mistake flatting pre, but I'm not so weighted towards bluffs on the river that villain's call down is going to be particularly profitable, especially when I don't have the most aggressive barrelling stats. It was pretty clear he had a medium pp on the turn and I just couldn't see a reg calling this off:

Hero (BB) ($67.83)
UTG ($58.52)
MP ($47.59)
Button ($60.75)
SB ($54.03)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 7http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif, Khttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif
3 folds, SB raises to $1.50, Hero raises to $4.50, SB calls $3

Flop: ($9) 9http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif, 10http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...es/diamond.gif, 10http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/heart.gif (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $4.50, SB calls $4.50

Turn: ($18) 3http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...ilies/club.gif (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $9, SB calls $9

River: ($36) 2http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif (2 players)
SB checks, Hero bets $36.50, SB calls $36.03 (All-In)

Total pot: $108.06 | Rake: $2.50

Results below:

Spoiler: Show

SB had 7http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...ilies/club.gif, 7http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/heart.gif (two pair, tens and sevens).
Hero had 7http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif, Khttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif (one pair, tens).
Outcome: SB won $105.56

Hand 3

Villain calls wide versus re-steals and I'd normally bet out, but decide I'm ahead of his range and this guy almost always barrels vs weakness, plus he gets AK and JJ in pre. He has AJ/55 some times plus AQ, but river is probably a nitty fold against this sizing on this particular river card when villain doesn't appear to fire a 3rd barrel often enough and he just has KTs and sets too often. I really should just bet out the flop though:

Button ($136.90)
Hero (SB) ($62.37)
BB ($62.87)
UTG ($20.09)
MP ($50)

Preflop: Hero is SB with Ahttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...ilies/club.gif, Qhttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/heart.gif
2 folds, Button raises to $1.25, Hero raises to $4, 1 fold, Button calls $2.75

Flop: ($8.50) Jhttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/heart.gif, Ahttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif, 5http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $5, Hero calls $5

Turn: ($18.50) 7http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...es/diamond.gif (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $10, Hero calls $10

River: ($38.50) Qhttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...es/diamond.gif (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $32, Hero raises to $43.37 (All-In), Button calls $11.37

Total pot: $125.24 | Rake: $2.50

Results below:

Spoiler: Show

Button had Khttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...es/diamond.gif, 10http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...es/diamond.gif (straight, Ace high).
Hero had Ahttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...ilies/club.gif, Qhttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/heart.gif (two pair, Aces and Queens).
Outcome: Button won $122.74

Hand 4

This is a spot where I grossly over-estimate the pre-flop aggro at 50nl. I don't particularly hate it versus a more aggro reg, but this guy had folded to 5/5 3bets so far, so I realistically have no fold equity and well behind his tight 4bet range, but I just convinced myself that he was playing back in a reg dick-waving war bvb:

UTG ($81.14)
MP ($68.63)
Button ($49.94)
SB ($51)
Hero (BB) ($51.17)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 10http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/heart.gif, 10http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...ilies/club.gif
3 folds, SB raises to $1.31, Hero raises to $4, SB raises to $11.50, Hero raises to $51.17 (All-In), SB calls $39.50 (All-In)

Flop: ($102) 7http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif, 3http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/heart.gif, 6http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif (2 players, 2 all-in)

Turn: ($102) Ahttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...es/diamond.gif (2 players, 2 all-in)

River: ($102) Ahttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: $102 | Rake: $2.50

Results below:

Spoiler: Show

SB had Qhttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/heart.gif, Qhttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif (two pair, Aces and Queens).
Hero didn't show 10http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/heart.gif, 10http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...ilies/club.gif (two pair, Aces and tens).
Outcome: SB won $99.50

Hand 5

Uggh. I'd 3bet this guy from the blinds the past 3-4 orbits and thought he'd reached breaking point. Logic fail really though, as I should have adjusted to a wider value range if I thought that would be the case or at least use AXs for a bluff jam, plus he's never folding even if he's as wide as AQ/AJs/TT in this spot:

MP ($50.75)
Button ($35.94)
Hero (SB) ($61.29)
BB ($50)
UTG ($39.25)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 6http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif, 5http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif
1 fold, MP raises to $1.50, 1 fold, Hero raises to $4.50, 1 fold, MP raises to $9.55, Hero raises to $61.29 (All-In), MP calls $41.20 (All-In)

Running it twice

: ($51) Ahttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...es/diamond.gif, 9http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/heart.gif, 3http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/heart.gif
First Turn: ($51) 4http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif
First River: ($51) 9http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif

: ($51) 2http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...ilies/club.gif, 6http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/heart.gif, 9http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...es/diamond.gif
Second Turn: ($51) 2http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif
Second River: ($51) 8http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/heart.gif

Board 1: Ahttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...es/diamond.gif, 9http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/heart.gif, 3http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/heart.gif, 4http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif, 9http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif
Board 2: 2http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...ilies/club.gif, 6http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/heart.gif, 9http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...es/diamond.gif, 2http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif, 8http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/heart.gif

Total pot: $102 | Rake: $2.50

Results below:

Spoiler: Show

Hero had 6http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif, 5http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif
Hero had one pair, nines on the first board
Hero had two pair, sixes and twos on the second board
MP had Khttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif, Khttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/heart.gif
MP had two pair, Kings and nines on the first board and collected $51
MP had two pair, Kings and twos on the second board and collected $51
Outcome: MP won $99.50

BvB what type of hands you flatting to a SB raise as a starnard with no reads?

Hand 1 - i mean you have the second nuts so it's not horrible. I do agree though that given this particular board, and the spades that the board blocks and that you block, the only other flushes he can now have that we beat are Q7ss (unlikely UTG), 67ss, 56ss, 45ss. So yah it's closer than my first instinct, but I still don't think ppl can find a fold with KKK/AAA here so I'd probably still jam.

Hand 2 - You aren't getting any folds on this flop. So many hands are coordinated with GS/OESD etc. Firing one seems ok I suppose, but you gotta be done with it after that. If you're bluffing on this board with this hand, you're going to end up with WAYY too many bluffs here.

Hand 3 - I would just bet bet bet, but after you c/c I like the line.

Hand 4 - This is one of those hands that convinced me a long time ago that you can just fold a ton of 3b and then 4b when you have it and ppl will still pay you off because they think "he must be fed up finally". That being said I think TT is fine as a 3b/5b hand overall. If you were jamming a low pair cause he must be sick of you, then I'd say you're reaching too far.

Hand 5 - Haha see above. Reaching too far in this hand. If they fold once and 4b you the next time, I think that could be a bluff and they are taking a quick stand. If they fold 3 times ina row or 4, and 4b you, they are probably just waiting for something.

What is your 3b %?

Think of it this way, JJ+/AK is 3% of all hands. If someone is stealing 30% on btn, that means JJ+/AK represents 10% of all their opens.

So the probability of someone getting JJ+/AK at least once in 5 steals:
1-(0.9)^5
41%

So there's a 41% chance that 4betting you once over those 5 steal attempts in which you're 3betting them, that it is JJ+/AK.

Thanks for taking the time out and the thoughtful responses as always Griff.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by griffey24

Hand 1 - i mean you have the second nuts so it's not horrible. I do agree though that given this particular board, and the spades that the board blocks and that you block, the only other flushes he can now have that we beat are Q7ss (unlikely UTG), 67ss, 56ss, 45ss. So yah it's closer than my first instinct, but I still don't think ppl can find a fold with KKK/AAA here so I'd probably still jam.

Errr...?! ;)

My thinking at the time was that:

We are crushed by A2ss-A5ss, AQss and 67ss = 6 combos
Villain may call a jam with AA/KK = 4 combos
Villain may call a jam with QJ = 12 combos
Villain would most likely call with 56ss = 1 combo, but I don't think this guy's stats suggested he would open quite that wide

I kind of discounted AA/KK/QJ however based on his timing and sizing. It was so quick and large on a card that I'm likely to be smashing that it suggested there was no decision to be made, whereas I'd expect at least a pause with the 16 combos we beat. If we said that maybe he does this with half of those 16 combos then that makes this a call. Obviously we can jam it in for thin-ish value if we're confident that he calls it off with all combos of AA/KK/QJ.



Hand 2 - You aren't getting any folds on this flop. So many hands are coordinated with GS/OESD etc. Firing one seems ok I suppose, but you gotta be done with it after that. If you're bluffing on this board with this hand, you're going to end up with WAYY too many bluffs here.

I think I make the classic mistake that many do in that if I'm 3betting as a bluff, I don't always need to bet and bluff my way through every time. I mean I wouldn't on certain wet flops that smash a tight calling range (e.g. KQJtt) but I didn't think this one through too well at all.

Hand 3 - I would just bet bet bet, but after you c/c I like the line.

Ah, okay, maybe this wasn't so bad after all and the Q is just a horrible card for me. I do think the river is marginal given sizing, but I shouldn't go into c/c mode to induce spew I suppose unless I'm willing to stack top two here.

Hand 4 - This is one of those hands that convinced me a long time ago that you can just fold a ton of 3b and then 4b when you have it and ppl will still pay you off because they think "he must be fed up finally". That being said I think TT is fine as a 3b/5b hand overall. If you were jamming a low pair cause he must be sick of you, then I'd say you're reaching too far.

I think this is probably the least bad, but probably a little bit reckless against this particular villain. Is TT a standard stack-off bvb in higher games?

Hand 5 - Haha see above. Reaching too far in this hand. If they fold once and 4b you the next time, I think that could be a bluff and they are taking a quick stand. If they fold 3 times ina row or 4, and 4b you, they are probably just waiting for something.

Ha, too true. I like the numbers you provide below too - simple enough but insightful.

What is your 3b %?

Not huge by any means at 6%-8% (increasingly 8% lately). I'm around 10%-12% resteals, 15% btn vs co and less than 3% in other spots

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by ImSavy

BvB what type of hands you flatting to a SB raise as a starnard with no reads?

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It's funny when you think about a question this simple and you can't snap answer it. Hopefully that means some level of unconcious competence, rather than making it up as I go along!

Assuming it was villain's 2nd hand and he bought in full, I'd generally flat broadways and 3bet a huge percentage of other stuff first hand (maybe 40% including a bunch of suited shit). I don't think that's a bad thing to do if it can set the tone for inducing spew later on, plus we get folds a huge amount of the time seeing as he has no reads on me.

More generally, if there is a suggestion that villain is a standard TAG type (say 7-19 hands of data) and assumed opening 35%-40%, I think I tend to 3bet polarised 15%-ish and flat 20%-35%. Sometimes I'll go really wide though if I have a large sample size and if villain is a weaker player post-flop (e.g. one and done type with huge bet sizing and timing tells). Conversely, I'll tighten up if villain is one of the better regs.

Sound okay to a maths man? (aside from I know you hate making inferences from small samples!).

Was a question I don't really have an answer for :P

Give me a month and I'll tell you some awesome BvB strats. But ye you're definitely getting into dick swinging contests with other players, if you're good at it though then there's no harm in that at all.

Yah you definitely don't need to cbet everytime you 3b and get called.

You're risking preflop $4 to win $2.25 in the pot so it needs to work 64% of the time. If villain is folding more tan 64% of the time you're making money on the 3b even if you NEVER cbet post flop and never win postflop (which is obviously unlikely).

Dropped down to 25nl to recover some roll and pride after dropping 10BI playing like a maniac at 50nl. I'm testing out Zoom this time however and beating it pretty easily. The standard at Zoom seems really bad and the game is riddled with players from nations that are typically bad at poker i.e. Greece, Poland, China, Ukraine and the UK, with not many of the decent Russians knocking about. I'm still playing terribly pre-flop though and in 3bet pots post-flop, but I'm managing to get away with losing a BI jamming shite every few hundred hands thanks to all the terrible players. I just need to stop the dick-swinging contests when hardly anybody is bluffing at 25nl.

One thing that should help in the future though is a comment in Phil Galfond's recent AMA on Reddit. Phil essentially said that rather than trying to become a robot, you should start to work with your emotions and realise you can't completely control yourself. The point he made is that in a spot where he would hero call, he just needs to recognise his bad tendencies and think to himself "Phil, this is a spot where you would normally want to snap hero call, but is this a good spot to do so".

One other thing I've been thinking about this past week is whether I'm doing okay at Zoom because my HUD isn't working and I'm being forced to play a more ABC game, rather than scouring my HUD looking for just one particular stat that will give me a good reason to make a retarded play. I'm noticing with Zoom in particular just how many timing tells villains have for instance (partly because of 4-tables rather than 9-12), as well as the usual horrible bet sizing tells. I still think a HUD is beneficial overall however if used properly, so I should aim to get it configured for Zoom soon.

Yet another illustrious day in my poker career today. I dropped 10BI in 2.8k hands of 25nl Zoom and 1.5BI in 1.5k hands at 50nl Zoom. There's a huge amount of fugly coolers in there of course where I consistently run into the top of villain's range (I'm actually pretty happy with my 50nl play), but some horrendous spew too.

It continues to be really frustrating to have no self-control and blow off a month's work in a few hours, particularly when almost every player at these stakes is truly terrible at poker (so what does that make me?!). I'm certainly not entitled to win though and if I can't fix the issues then I'm going to have to hang up my mouse as poker is not a hobby I'm happy to spend money undertaking each month given the stresses involved.

I think my plan for the rest of this year now is to nit up during the rest of this month to hit Platinum star, max out my FPPs and then spend most of next month working away from the tables. I seem to be getting significantly worse as a player and need to reverse this trend asap.

Obviously I don't know the full story but it sounds much more like mental game issues than anything else. Put some time aside to do some work on your mental game and you'll see the results work through to your game. Even if you just get better at walking away from the game, your VPP might take a hit but at these stakes it should be all about the winrate.

As for whether you're playing well or not just post some hands up, there's always the chance you're thinking about certain spots in the wrong way or at least might get a little bit more light shed on certain situations. Keep at it though mate.

Thanks for the support dude. I have the MGoP2 turning up on my bday next month, which will help, along with Janda's MoP. Once I start work in central London too, I'm going to spend my time on the train studying and working on spreadsheets so that hopefully I can become more "unconciously competent". In that sense, it's a bit like a golfer making a putt for a major: as long as the action is ingrained sufficiently, there shouldn't be any major fuck ups in the heat of battle.

I've been a really swingy player for a while now, despite being a fairly passive player. One thing I don't do however is the obvious: when on a huge upswing, I don't maximise the upswing (i.e.when I win 15BI in 8k hands, if I was being honest, I should be winning at least 20BI) or minimise the downswing during periods when I'm card dead or getting coolered (i.e. when I lose 15BI in 5k hands, normally half of them are just bad play). The end result is huge obviously, where I could still be a decent winner overall if I maximise/minimise despite massive swinging sessions.

I was asked at interview today how I like to spend my spare time. Unsurprisingly, I forgot to mention poker.

I've always wondered whether it's a good idea to mention poker in an interview. I mean I probably spend more of my time being analytical about a complex system than most people applying for whatever job it is but you just know that as soon as you say poker chances are you get a big tag across your head saying degen gambler.

I've definitely never mentioned it in an interview. It's too much of a wildcard for sure. I think I would only ever mention it at a stock broker type job and such, cause it seems like they value the poker player skill set a lot.

Keep it up BC - it's interesting to get this kind of insight into someone elses frustrations and losing sessions. I know a lot of the things you've said about spewing 10 buyins in ~3k hands resonate with me - I've had some sessions like that recently. One was -6BI in 1000 hands. It is liable to make you feel like the unluckiest poker player in the world, but it helps to realise other people feel the same too - we all know it's illogical and exceedingly unlikely to be true, but still.

Perhaps you're playing just fine. It's also important to realise that just because you play _terrible_ sometimes doesn't mean you're not getting better, I've watched your progress and seen you consistently beating limits I can't get traction at over a big enough sample to know that you've definitely put in the work and improved - you're going to have to suck up the bad times along with the good.

I'm not sure I believe you're getting "significantly worse" - what I think might be happening is what happened to me the last few sessions - I've had winning sessions, but my play feels fucking atrocious compared to a short ~1k hand session I played about a week back when I just felt great, was thinking clearly and generally played the best poker I can ever remember playing. Whenever you have played your best ever, there's going to be a period following it when you have to, inevitably, go backwards - two steps forward and one back, but it doesn't mean the overall trend isn't towards improvement, it's just the psychological/human performance side of variance.

Good luck at the tables. I hope this turns around for you soon.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by The Bean Counter

I was asked at interview today how I like to spend my spare time. Unsurprisingly, I forgot to mention poker.

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LOL, I agree - I thnk embezzling and sexual deviancy are preferable hobbies to mention during a job application.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BorisTheSpider

Keep it up BC - it's interesting to get this kind of insight into someone elses frustrations and losing sessions. I know a lot of the things you've said about spewing 10 buyins in ~3k hands resonate with me - I've had some sessions like that recently. One was -6BI in 1000 hands. It is liable to make you feel like the unluckiest poker player in the world, but it helps to realise other people feel the same too - we all know it's illogical and exceedingly unlikely to be true, but still.

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Thanks for your support Boris. I was wondering the other day if anybody would be relieved to read that not everybody is smashing the games and progressing quickly. I think it’s all too easy to read the blogs of pros and see practically variance free graphs and assume that anything less than that is failure. The reality is that most players are losers unless they’re willing to put the time in.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BorisTheSpider

Perhaps you're playing just fine. It's also important to realise that just because you play _terrible_ sometimes doesn't mean you're not getting better, I've watched your progress and seen you consistently beating limits I can't get traction at over a big enough sample to know that you've definitely put in the work and improved - you're going to have to suck up the bad times along with the good.

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Definitely not playing fine during the ridiculous sessions, but I appreciate the sentiment! Sometimes I look at the hand histories and just have no idea what I was thinking. Variance is far bigger than most people can comprehend though, unless you are technically AND mentally far superior to the majority at the stake you are playing.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BorisTheSpider

I'm not sure I believe you're getting "significantly worse" - what I think might be happening is what happened to me the last few sessions - I've had winning sessions, but my play feels fucking atrocious compared to a short ~1k hand session I played about a week back when I just felt great, was thinking clearly and generally played the best poker I can ever remember playing. Whenever you have played your best ever, there's going to be a period following it when you have to, inevitably, go backwards - two steps forward and one back, but it doesn't mean the overall trend isn't towards improvement, it's just the psychological/human performance side of variance.

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I think us Brits are typically hard on ourselves if we make errors or don’t perform to the best of our ability constantly. That’s just not realistic though and as long as we are learning from our mistakes as we go, then we’ll do just fine.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BorisTheSpider

Good luck at the tables. I hope this turns around for you soon.

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Thanks – gl too.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BorisTheSpider

LOL, I agree - I thnk embezzling and sexual deviancy are preferable hobbies to mention during a job application.

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They seemed fine with my other interests of booze, birds and football..

Definitely agree with Griff that it would only be appropriate at a trading-type interview. In fact, I know that is true as I had an interview 7-8 years ago for a trainee derivatives trading job and one of the guys talked a lot about his love for poker. Really strange interview beyond that too, as I talked sport for 4 hours with three different interviewers and was asked questions like “what’s 23 squared?” every so often. I ended up turning the job down, but still think about what life would have been like from time-to-time if I’d taken it.

I’m on a decent upswing again 4-tabling 25nl Zoom and simultaneously 2-tabling 50nl.

Good spot to set (or quad) mine KK? Spaz villain has AA 100% when he min 5-bets imo. Cue the usual KK berating... :)

Hero (Button) ($25)
SB ($13.69)
BB ($34.76)
UTG ($42.17)
MP ($25.38)
CO ($12.50)

Preflop: Hero is Button with Khttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif, Khttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...ilies/club.gif
3 folds, Hero raises to $0.62, SB calls $0.52, BB raises to $1.75, Hero raises to $5.25, 1 fold, BB raises to $8.75, Hero calls $3.50

Flop: ($18.12) Khttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/heart.gif, Khttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...es/diamond.gif, 5http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif (2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks

Turn: ($18.12) Jhttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/heart.gif (2 players)
BB bets $11.75, Hero raises to $16.25 (All-In), BB calls $4.50

River: ($50.62) Qhttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $50.62 | Rake: $2

Results below:

Spoiler: Show

Hero had Khttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif, Khttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...ilies/club.gif (four of a kind, Kings).
BB had Ahttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif, Ahttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/heart.gif (two pair, Aces and Kings).
Outcome: Hero won $48.62

Turns out that the following rings true:

Boom switch + switching to play like a complete passive nit @50nl + people never believing you have it = $500 monthly deficit for the month fixed in less than 36 hours

http://img822.imageshack.us/img822/61/gfp0.jpg

My graph is going to look even more mental than usual this month.

Thanks again for the support gents.

Nice keep up the boom switch!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by griffey24

Nice keep up the boom switch!

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I'll try! Wasn't looking good first session this morning though as I ran into AA three times @25nl in the first 200 hands with KK twice and AKs.

Is this hand badly overplayed after the turn lead for pot? If so, ditch it or call down? My snap thought was "this is A5 ALL day long.....all in!".

Button ($111.11)
SB ($64.24)
Hero (BB) ($52.61)
UTG ($84.32)
MP ($60.49)
CO ($34.75)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 4http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...es/diamond.gif, Jhttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/heart.gif
4 folds, SB calls $0.25, Hero checks

Flop: ($1) Jhttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...es/diamond.gif, 4http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/heart.gif, Ahttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/heart.gif (2 players)
SB bets $1, Hero raises to $4, SB calls $3

Turn: ($9) 5http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...es/diamond.gif (2 players)
SB bets $8.50, Hero raises to $48.11 (All-In), SB calls $39.61

River: ($105.22) Khttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...es/diamond.gif (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: $105.22 | Rake: $2.50

Results below:

Spoiler: Show

SB had Ahttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...ilies/club.gif, 5http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/heart.gif (two pair, Aces and fives).
Hero didn't show 4http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...es/diamond.gif, Jhttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/heart.gif (two pair, Jacks and fours).
Outcome: SB won $102.72

More than 200bb deep after he pots flop and calls, and then almost pots turn again, I would just flat turn and re-eval.

Also his most likely hands we beat are some kind of combo draws, but I think by outright jamming he'll just fold these, so we're not even letting him make a mistake.

This one goes out to all the rigtards out there. We all know it's rigged, right? I mean 8.6BI below EV in an afternoon is just statistically impossible.

http://img844.imageshack.us/img844/6358/57jm.jpg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by The Bean Counter

This one goes out to all the rigtards out there. We all know it's rigged, right? I mean 8.6BI below EV in an afternoon is just statistically impossible.

---

Ouch. Pokerstars can suck my balls.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by BorisTheSpider

Ouch. Pokerstars can suck my balls.

---

It's okay - with my excessively nitty brm, the green line doesn't really bother me at all. I know the orange line has its issues in the sense that it doesn't measure villain's range, but as long as the line is going up then I'm fine with the bank balance decreasing (or even if the orange line is going down, as long as my decision-making was okay then it's all good).

You know my afternoon would lead to yet another rigtard post though on the poker forums if I was the kind of player that deposits $200 at the weekend and 2-tables 50nl.

November:

Couple of major spew sessions this month, with a couple of big upswings in there too to leave me up EV-wise. Going to back to basics at the end of the month certainly helped the upswing and I think I’d previously made playing the game too complicated in many respects – winning poker at 50nl and lower really is just value betting, a lot of folding and not a lot of stone-cold bluffing.

I cashed in a bunch of FPPs this month after grinding out Platinum star, so at least it doesn’t quite feel like November was a waste of time in a financial sense:

Cash: -$219
MTT: $23 (one 150-man $11 played)
Rakeback: $800

Profit: $604
Total Bankroll: $7.2k (so minimum target for the year of doubling bankroll achieved)

And now the graph:

http://img824.imageshack.us/img824/241/axce.jpg

congrats on hitting a target. and keep on truckin'!

I've finally got a new job sorted, which starts in early January. Until that time, I think I'm going to treat poker as if it's my living (albeit my wage will be shite) and aim on averaging 5-6 hours per day between now and the end of the month. It will be interesting to partly live the life of a pro, although I'd be surprised if it's something that I'd want to do permanently. I'm also going to make sure I make the most of the free time with my friends and family too when they are available.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rpm

congrats on hitting a target. and keep on truckin'!

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Cheers dude!

5-6 hours a day playing or on poker related stuff?

If you up your play time so much in one go it'll just result in you spewing. If you're adding like an hour to what you play every day and using the other time on studying I'm all for it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ImSavy

5-6 hours a day playing or on poker related stuff?

If you up your play time so much in one go it'll just result in you spewing. If you're adding like an hour to what you play every day and using the other time on studying I'm all for it.

---

We'll see. The last 4-5 days of last month were 6-7 hour playing days, but I'll admit that my eyes were shot by the end of it. In any case, now I'm trying to play poker as part of a routine rather than a distraction from routine, I'm actually doing everything I can apart from poker (go figure). For instance, today I've rejigged and cleared my email inbox, spent far too long in the sauna and hot tub at the gym and watched a load of shit on tv that I'd never normally watch. With the holidays coming up, I'd be surprised if I get much volume in after all.

I'm putting in some mediocre performances at 50nl Zoom this month and only winning at about 1bb/100 over a big sample, but I'm confident I can beat this game now playing my B/C game (which I have been all month). I'll only play a little bit more before Xmas day now and then save the intervening period for study, family and friends.

No money 50nl, all the TAG regs like these two guys are solid...(villain snapped off the river too)

Button ($50)
SB ($24)
Hero (BB) ($169.77)
UTG ($81.87)
MP ($50)
CO ($50)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 10http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif, Jhttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/heart.gif
3 folds, Button raises to $1.25, 1 fold, Hero calls $0.75

Flop: ($2.75) 3http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...es/diamond.gif, 7http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...ilies/club.gif, 8http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...ilies/club.gif (2 players)
Hero checks, Button checks

Turn: ($2.75) 4http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...ilies/club.gif (2 players)
Hero bets $1.50, Button raises to $4, Hero raises to $9, Button calls $5

River: ($20.75) 4http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...es/diamond.gif (2 players)
Hero bets $11.50, Button calls $11.50

Total pot: $43.75 | Rake: $1.97

Results below:

Spoiler: Show

Button had Ahttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif, 5http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif (one pair, fours).
Hero had 10http://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/spade.gif, Jhttp://www.flopturnriver.com/pokerfo...lies/heart.gif (one pair, fours).
Outcome: Button won $41.78

lol I like your line but you really gotta ram river down his throat given he's capped.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by griffey24

lol I like your line but you really gotta ram river down his throat given he's capped.

---

Yeah, you're right ofc re river. At the time, I was so confident in my read that he has air 90%+ of the time when he takes this line that I just couldn't see him calling off anything. Given his timing though, he was obviously on huge monkey tilt and was going to call this size if for no other reason than spite.

I think I’m going to wrap this one up for the year. Having set some achievable goals at the start of the year, I’ve not quite reached any of them (!), but I did at least deliver a small profit of $4k over the past twelve months and doubled my bankroll at an average of around $7 an hour.

There have been some plus points this year for sure. April and May were really strong months in terms of discipline and I’m a lot happier with my understanding of pre-flop poker and abusing positional power much better than previously. I also continue to love all aspects of playing poker, even during the bad times, and I doubt there will come a time when this game isn’t at least some part of my life as long as I can continue to be a small winner.

Clearly there have been a lot of negatives too, which I need to take full responsibility for. I’ve focussed so much on volume this past year that I’ve undertaken practically zero study in terms of both the technical and mental aspects of the game, which is disappointing given I set out at the start of the year to really get hold of my tilt/discipline issues. It really is painful to think about just how much I’ve donated to the rest of the poker community during the year and there is not an hour of play that goes by where I don’t make at least one $5-$25 mistake where I think to myself “this is a pretty clear fold” before finding myself clicking call or raise. Jared Tendler will say that these issues are partly as a result of not having reached unconscious competence in my technical knowledge and he would be absolutely right. In short, much more work was needed in 2013 and I just didn’t do it.

Going into 2014 though, I’m feeling very positive about poker. I’ve seen nothing this year to suggest that the games aren’t beatable for a reasonable hourly as long as I’m willing to put a lot more effort into fixing my issues. Everybody is constantly making huge mistakes at 25nl/50nl and an hourly rate of $15-$30 is more than doable with rakeback, which is pretty good if you live in an area where gambling profit is tax-free like it is in the UK. Even if I don’t hit those kinds of rates, at least I can still enjoy playing the game and the huge personal challenge it provides.

Happy holidays all.